Am I being ripped off? - Solar and Battery Install

[griffta]

Hi,

I hope I can get some advice concerning the design and cost of a solar and battery installation that I've paid a deposit for.

The company I enlisted was Egg (crackingenergy.com); they were recommended to me by a friend. All went well with the survey and initial conversations, but communication dried up after I paid a 25% deposit. Anyway, long story short, I started posting my experience which got the attention of their customer services manager. They called me directly to explain that they were having staffing issues due to the current huge demand for solar. This didn't make me happy but was plausible.

They propose a 12 panel, 4.74kWp system with 10kWh Solar Edge Battery and 3.68kW Solar Edge Inverter. The roof is 47 degrees and -20 degrees azimuth. I questioned the 3.68kW inverter rating and was told that this was plenty big enough for my installation and there would only be minimal clipping. Since then I have learnt that anything larger would require a full G99 application to the DNO which is a pain for the installer and potentially costly in terms of admin time, with no guarantee the DNO will say yes.

Given their install cost of £17k includes a £2k admin charge, I'm worried I've been miss-sold at a high price.

My friend had a quote for a slightly smaller system with a battery (3.69kWp and 10kwh batt) coming in at £11.6k installed.

Given the poor response from the installer, I'd like to get your advice on whether I'm paying too much and if a 3.68kW inverter is sufficient for my array size and installation environment. It's not too late for me to cancel my order and get my deposit back.

Many thanks in advance.

Matt.

 

[sparkwright]

I can't give any technical advice on this matter, I'm sure someone will be along to help - but if it doesn't feel right, cancel the order.

 

[StephenStephen]

Inverters are more efficient running at close to their capacity, and panels are relatively cheap, so for a non battery systems a 5kW array with 3.6kW inverter is pretty standard. We have a 5.2kW array with a 3.6kW inverter which we're happy with.
You end up with more generation at the shoulders, when it is more useful, and some clipping at peak generation.

I'm not sure how adding in batteries changed the maths.

Am I right in saying that Egg used to be Phoenix Works? If so - we had a car charger installed by them, and I was very impressed by their work.

I think it's absolutely true that solar and battery installers are generally struggling to keep up with demand at present.

That price seems perhaps high? Check out comparisons in this thread here: https://www.speakev.com/threads/solar-pv-battery-quotes.165157/

 

[bsr]

Price seems very high, I would have thought £12k. The rest sounds correct. I have 4.4kw of panels on a 3.68kw inverter and almost never clip, maybe for an hour or two if full sun in August.

 

[griffta]

Thanks for the feedback; the overriding message seems to be the specification if good but the price is too high!

I've put a cancellation request in - the sales team is going to call me back to explain why their quote is so m uch higher than that of comparable installations.

Matt.

 

[griffta]

So, the sales team called me a said that the higher price was because SolarEdge and Trina panels (which they specified) are the leading manufacturer and therefore command a premium - I'm not sure this premium should be in the region of £5-6k!

 

[GarethW]

I know nothing about solar, so what's the £2k admin charge about ?

 

[SpecialK]

Trina 395W are £160 each.
Solar Edge 10kW battery £7306
Inverter is about a grand.
These are non trade prices including VAT.

Install cost will not have VAT added as its VAT free for solar installs?

 

[bsr]

With Solaredge you also need the optimisers.